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Domagoj Patkovic, age 31, of Portland, Oregon, is charged with making bomb threats and related offenses in an indictment that was unsealed in Oregon federal court on Tuesday, Aug. 20.
According to prosecutors, Patkovic and others called in bomb threats to Jewish hospitals and care centers in New York City and on Long Island beginning in May 2021.
During the calls, they allegedly made violent threats and threatened to detonate explosive devices.
Patkovic himself made threats in at least six separate phone calls to hospitals, as well as on a call with police who responded to a 911 notification from one hospital, prosecutors said.
The calls, some of which were live streamed on social media, prompted heavy police responses and bomb sweeps. One threat made in September 2021 resulted in the partial evacuation and lockdown of an entire hospital on Long Island.
No explosive devices were found at any of the locations.
“These alleged actions incited unnecessary hysteria and redirected limited resources to mitigate a false alarm,” said FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge Christie Curtis.
“The FBI will not tolerate those who utilize hoax bomb threat schemes to satisfy their anti-Semitic beliefs and endanger the wellbeing of our communities.”
Patkovic is charged with the following:
- Conspiring to make and making threats concerning explosives
- Conspiring to transmit and transmitting threatening communications
- Conveying false information concerning explosives
If convicted, he faces up to 155 years in prison.
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